Fung Wah!; or Recapping Jukebox Stories 06.15.08 (Boston, MA)

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The Internet-accessible luxury and overall comfort and safety of the Bolt Bus dissolved right before my very eyes when I stepped onto a FungWah bus in Chinatown. Because of scheduling issues, Brandon couldn't book us another Bolt trip, so he went with one of those Chinatown buses that you've all heard about. FungWah was one of the first dirt-cheap buses operating between New York and Boston, and it's still hugely popular because of it's head-scratching $15 fares. What's even more surprising is that it still does great business despite the fact that it has a sketchy reputation—after all, there's a whole section dedicated to "Safety" on the company's Wikipedia page, which is to say that "Safety" has been a nagging issue for the company. Wikipedia reports, "Recently, the company has also become known for its high rate of accidents, as well as a discrimination lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General for refusing to sell tickets to a visually-impaired couple with a guide dog." Someone at the Boston show told me that during Halloween she saw someone dressed up like a FungWah bus with flames shooting out its sides.

I have to admit that the rides to and from our Jukebox Stories performance in Boston was bumpy, the buses were a bit smelly and wet, and I started having panic attacks anytime the bus drivers answered their cell phones while driving through the rain. On the other hand, I was heartened to see that so many people were willing to put their lives in the hands of Asian drivers. It gives me faith in the future of America.

The damn Celtics game, the damn Gay Pride weekend, the damn Father's Day holiday, the damn Sunday night slot—they all resulted in a relatively low turnout, but we had a terrific show despite. It's not quantity—it's drunkenness. I told you, right?!

Our friend and comedian Dana J. Bein opened for us with a hysterical set. ("I celebrated Father's Day by ignoring myself for 13 years and being mean to my mother.") And we were greeted by those who made our first show in Boston last year so so memorable: Rachel, DJ Geoff, and Amy, as well as an enthusiastic handful of new friends and the man who mastered the Jukebox Stories CD (available online soon). Thank you for making us your Father's Day destination.

How crazy was doing this Boston show? We took a four-and-a-half hour FungWah bus ride, set up for the show, performed a fast-and-furious set, breathed deeply once, took a four-and-a-half hour bus ride back to New York, grabbed a subway train to the ferry terminal, rode the ferry to Staten Island, and walked back to Brandon's house. I got to bed at about 5:30AM, yelling the same thing I had been yelling all day long at random points in time: "FUNGWAH!" Try it. It's liberating.